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Auxilia Katongomara Chronicle Reporter
UP to one million people are likely to receive benefits for participating in the country’s liberation struggle, the Deputy Minister of Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Political Detainees and Restrictees, Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube has said.
Responding to a question in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Rtd Col Dube said previously only armed freedom fighters were vetted. He said refugees and others who provided services to the liberators would be vetted in an ongoing exercise.
“What is happening is that all those who were in camps and refugees are going to be vetted. Earlier on it was the liberators who were vetted. These people were being given guns and we wanted to see whether or not they could assemble the guns. There were others who were assisting the liberators, some were teachers, some were those who were cooking for the liberators but they did not qualify,” said Rtd Col Dube.
“As of now, it has been agreed that they will also qualify. It is going to be a tall order because already we have vetted 700,000 war veterans, collaborators and the ex-detainees and there are still a lot more who are going to be vetted, may be they will come up to a million.”
Recently, Rtd Col Dube said initially they wanted to conclude the vetting exercise by December, but they had since moved the deadline to March next year due to funding challenges.
The deputy minister said $4 million was needed to conclude the exercise.
Rtd Col Dube said as soon as the money is released, the process would be expedited.
He said by mid-next year, all war collaborators and ex-detainees would be ready to be considered for compensation but urged them to remain patient.
Rtd Col Dube appealed to war collaborators to be patient until the government raises the required funding to complete the exercise which will see a number of war collaborators and ex-detainees benefitting from government programmes together with their counterparts — the war veterans.
He said despite lack of money, his ministry was compiling a register and every war collaborator shall have a uniform and medals used for identification purposes during national commemorations or funerals.
Rtd Col Dube said a policy had been crafted and signed by President Mugabe to protect and respect the interests of war collaborators, the same way war veterans are treated by the government.
Online Reporter